In my mind, anytime we pay attention to media or politicians, we ought to take what is said with at least a couple grains of salt … particularly when it is something that is designed to make us angry. The reason for this is simple: media and politicians both profit when you and I are angry. It’s far less clear that the world profits from our anger. With that in mind, it is becoming clear to me that there are no media outlets — on any side of the political spectrum — that actually understand what’s going on with family separation on the US/Mexico border. Last week, I had the opportunity to accompany Fr. Tony O’Connor SM to Casa Padre, one of the shelters being used to house migrant children (both those who came across the border unaccompanied and those who have been separated from their parents). Casa Padre is one of many shelters that is run by a company called Southwest Key, which the government contracts to care for these kids. In talking to Fr. Tony, sitting in on a meeting at Casa Padre, and reading some news articles, this is my best account of what’s going on at the border:
Background of the Crisis
The very first thing to understand about the migration crisis at our border is that most of the people seeking entrance are not from Mexico. Many are fleeing violence in other Central American countries (e.g. Guatemala and Honduras). The United States has a long history of meddling in Central American countries and has, undoubtedly, created many of the problems that lead to migration al norte. This is a good overview of some of the problems, but there’s plenty more information out there, both in the form of mainstream media and academic research. In short, the United States is largely responsible for creating the conditions that cause people to flee to the US. We are responsible for the border crisis.
In more recent times, the trouble at the border stems from the Trump administration’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy at the border. Basically, what normally happens is that families without papers — but many with a credible fear of facing violence if they return home — had been permitted to enter the country to apply for asylum. The Trump administration is now saying that the United States will not accept any asylum seekers in the US, and that all who cross illegally will be subject to criminal prosecution. As such, there is a logjam at the border, as Mexican border officials try to tell all those coming north that their asylum cases won’t be heard. In the interim, those coming north have usually spent most of their money coming here (in case you’re curious, it costs about $800-$1000/person to cross the border illegally) and now find themselves stuck. They’re nowhere close to home, without money, and without the ability to apply for asylum. So, bridges are full of people (in the summer heat, no less) with nowhere to go. It’s really bad.
For those who try and cross and are arrested, the government policy has meant that minors are separated from their parents, because children are not allowed to be held in federal detention facilities (and since their parents are being apprehended and charged with a federal crime, the law dictates that they be held in a federal detention facility while they await trial, unless they can post bail — which nobody in that situation really can). President Trump signed an executive order to stop family separation, but with at-capacity family detention services, it’s not clear how exactly the separation of children can or will stop. A fairly good story that provides some more detail on this situation can be found here.
Detention Centers vs. Shelters
One of the media’s biggest failures in covering this story has been their failure to distinguish between detention centers and shelters. As previously mentioned, the government (through the Refuge Resettlement Program) funds licensed shelters that take in unaccompanied (or separated) minors and holds them until their fate is decided by the government. These places aren’t perfect, but they do their best: they have licensed counselers, provide food and basic necessities, offer educational and recreational programs for the kids, and the people who work there really do care about the kids. As previously mentioned, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at one of these shelters, Casa Padre, last week.
Casa Padre used to bring the kids out to our parish, San Felipe de Jesus, for regular off-site programs. This — along with all offsite programs — has stopped in recent months, primarily do to security threats (at Casa Padre, a man showed up and might have been armed, saying that they should “take those kids out back and shoot them”). The media has confused Casa Padre and other shelters with the actual detention centers in McAllen, TX, where some overflow children are being helf. One of the chief culprits of this misinformation is Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who showed up unnanounced and tried to get a tour of Casa Padre and was denied entry. As one Casa Padre employee that I spoke to put it, “if a guy came to your kids’ school unannounced demanding to take pictures, would you let him?” This has led to many protests outside Southwest Key shelters, leading to an increase in security, and makes Southwest Key unwilling to reinstate off-site trips for the kids (though we are hopeful that this will soon change). So, congratulations media and Sen. Merkley, you have succeeded in using children for your own personal gain, and have prevented them from having access to better quality of life while separated from their parents. Southwest Key is not perfect, but they’re doing the best they can.
To be clear, the “kids in cages” story isn’t completely wrong; it’s just misplaced. Detention Centers and the proposed ‘tent city’ in McAllen are real, and in those places, kids don’t get the level of treatment they do at Southwest Key licensed care facilities.
Botched Reunification
A federal judge mandated last week that the Trump administration reunify separated families this month. The deadline for reunifying children under 5 years of age was last Tuesday; the deadline for older kids is later this month (July 26). This mandated reunification has proven difficult because the federal government has either deported or ‘lost track of’ many of these childrens’ parents. Furthermore, there are legal complications: the government has a right to deport the kids’ parents, but not necessarily the kids themselves. As such, if the government reunites the families, it would make it more difficult to deport the parents. This story from the New York Times sheds a lot of light on the highly secretive process used to reunify the kids and parents.
A couple days before the reunification of the under-5 kids was to take place, we were actually made aware of a location that was to be used for this reunification. The proposed location would have made it possible for us and a few other 3rd party observers to make sure that everything happened according to plan. At 9:30am on Tuesday — only a few hours before the reunification was to take place — the government abruptly changed to an undisclosed location. No 3rd party observers, no press, no ACLU. No way for the Department of Homeland Security to be held accountable. Were civil rights respected? Who knows. What will happen in the next few weeks is anyone’s guess. For now, the best we can do is continue to pray, advocate, and provide aid when/where possible.
This is a big mess right now, and who knows how and when it will be sorted out. But while we continue to demand that our government be held accountable, it will do us good to remember that media and politicians have their own agendas and they have a vested interest in making you mad. You can’t always believe everything you read and hear. Furthermore, while the administration is making poor decisions that hurt people, there are a lot of folks who are trying to do good — and this certainly includes the employees at Southwest Key and the many volunteers working with organizations in the Rio Grande Valley that provide care, advocacy, and government accountability in this horrifying situation.
maristformation 
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